File:Marvels of the new West - a vivid portrayal of the stupendous marvels in the vast wonderland west of the Missouri River - comprising marvels of nature, marvels of race, marvels of enterprise, marvels (14784710853).jpg

Identifier: marvelsofnewwest1889thay (find matches)
Title: Marvels of the new West : a vivid portrayal of the stupendous marvels in the vast wonderland west of the Missouri River : comprising marvels of nature, marvels of race, marvels of enterprise, marvels of mining, marvels of stock-raising, and marvels of agriculture, graphically and truthfully described
Year: 1887 (1880s)
Authors: Thayer, William Makepeace, 1820-1898
Subjects:
Publisher: Norwich, Conn. : Henry Bill Pub. Co.
Contributing Library: Harold B. Lee Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Brigham Young University

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imperfect instrument. In different portions of the ruins were three circular apartmentssunk in the ground, the walls being of masonry; these apartmentsmeasured from three to twenty-seven feet in diameter, and wereabout six feet in the clear, were called estufas^ and were used for theperformances of the ceremonies and rites of their religion, the onlyentrance to them being through a small door in the top, which alsoadmitted the light. CLIFF-DWELLERS. We now come to the cliff-dwellers, the most remarkable and mys-terious of all the ancient races. In an encampment, one thousandfeet above the valley of the Rio Mancos, are single houses, groups oftwo and three, and villages, according to the width of the shelf theyoccupy. They are so high that the naked eye can distinguish themmerely as specks. There is no possible access to them from aboveon account of the rocks that project overhead ; no present way ofreaching them below, although doubling paths and foot-holes in the MARVELS OF RACE. H7
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RESTORED TOWER AND CLIFF-HOUSES. 148 MARVELS OF THE NEW WEST. rocks show where the way has been of old trodden by human feet. Afew houses are two stories, — one showed four stories, — but generallythey are not higher than a mans head ; division walls arc built, be-ginning at the back of the opening and working outward to the frontof the cave, which is so neatly walled by masonry of the prevailingstones that the artificial work is scarcely noticeable by a casualobserver. Upon the summits of the loftiest battlements are placedat irregular intervals round stone towers, supposed to have beensignal-towers. The full-page illustration furnishes a good view of cliff-houses andround tower as seen in the valley of the Rio Mancos and other locali-ties. Holmes says : The cliff-houses conform in shape to the floorof the niche or shelf on which they are built. They are of firm, neatmasonry, and the manner in which they are attached or cementedto the cliffs is simply marvellous. Their constructi

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